good article, it is a shame how big the pay gap is, tennis players need a minimum wage, in addition to prize money.

Tennis players, and tennis coaches for that matter, are equivalent to independent contractors. Minimum wage doesn't extend to them, nor can it really, given the number of players across various levels on the circuit and the revolving door that is the ranking system.

06-23-2013 10:35 AM

AnnaK_4ever

Re: Expenses and life on tour (Amir Weintraub's blog, Tursunov's interview June 2013)

Thanks for posting,interesting article about what goes on behind the scenes.Don't think it was meant for sympathy,but more to show that tennis isn't all that glamorous.Shameful when you compare their earnings with that of footie players

Life for the ones in Challenger/Futures tour is really difficult in comparison.

Mitya wasn't whining, that's for sure. He's got sponsors, a good manager and overall is a pretty successful tennis player (7 singles, 6 doubles titles, 4.5 million dollars in prize money—that's not bad, I think). He was just asked to elaborate on the subject and he did. In the same newspaper there is also a small interview with Boris Sobkin (Youzhny's long time coach) who says players outside the Top-50 earn just enough to cover their current costs and can't afford saving money for the future.

Life for the ones in Challenger/Futures tour is really difficult in comparison.

06-23-2013 06:49 AM

LeChuck

Re: Tursunov on how much it costs to be a tennis player

Along with slow surfaces and physicality, the financial burdens of becoming a professional tennis player must surely be a major reason why the talent pool of youngsters coming through is very weak.

Compared to other sports, in tennis you have to rise up pretty high up the rankings to make a good living out of the sport. The prize money at challenger and future events remaining pretty much the same over the last 20-30 years, while the costs associated with entering those events increasing with inflation, means that lower ranked players are worse off now than they were in previous generations.

In team sports you have so much more money to be distributed to so many more players, signed contracts with a regular, fixed source of income, have 50% of games at home and hence enjoy a settled home lifestyle, and your club pays for travelling, accommodation and food for team meals.

Tennis's rival expensive, middle class, individual sport golf has far more big money sponsors, less travelling and significantly more money to filter down the rankings. Plus golfers have much longer careers than tennis players.

In a 'normal' day or office job, the net earnings of many of us are better than that of the vast majority of ranked tennis players on the tour, as we don't have to worry about such hefty career-based costs.

Tennis is a brilliant and fun sport to play on a recreational basis. However with each passing year it is becoming less of an attractive or sensible career option. Tennis will always be a sport that loses so much talent to other sports or 'regular' jobs for financial reasons.

06-23-2013 12:32 AM

Joe H

Re: Tursunov on how much it costs to be a tennis player

thanks good article about what these guys go through - explains also why guys skip certain tournaments/qualifying due to costs and travel

06-22-2013 07:35 PM

Noleta

Re: Tursunov on how much it costs to be a tennis player

Thanks for posting,interesting article about what goes on behind the scenes.Don't think it was meant for sympathy,but more to show that tennis isn't all that glamorous.Shameful when you compare their earnings with that of footie players

06-22-2013 06:55 PM

Honestly

Re: Tursunov on how much it costs to be a tennis player

Very interesting. The stars need to earn less. They need to spread the prize money out better.

It's particularly interesting to see the kind of things that appear necessary for a Top-100 guy like Tursunov but are completely out of reach for lower-ranked players : business class flights, 4-star hotels... I mean, I can understand his reasoning, but when we complain about the lack of breakthrough on ATP tour we have to consider that to make it you have to beat these guys without having anything near that kind of facilities...

I see your point but Tursunov and the others in the current Top-100 didn't get there by a miracle. They all had to work their asses off to be ranked where they are ranked now.

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